Be a Style Hustler: Street Smart Ways to Get What You Want In Your Home

Hustlers know: there's the hard way to do something and then there's the smart way. Your home is no different. Look to the shrewd, the savvy and the street smart and learn a thing or two about how to beat that long con that is your decor.

Muster your motivation

All hustlers have a grand vision and you should too. Whatever you need to do to get there — goal setting, vision boards or a step-by-step strategy — a solid plan means you'll be one happy hustler in the long run.

Get some swagger

What sells a hustler's game? Confidence. Even if they're still in a fake-it-till-you-make-it mentality, the ability to act like everything will work out is the key ingredient to earning that confidence for real. By the same token, having the chutzpah to take a decor risk, even if it doesn't work out, will teach you valuable lessons about your taste and help your home become more interesting and unique in the end.

Recognize hidden opportunities

Hustlers know how to spot opportunities even when they're not presented on a silver platter (because they won't be). They're always looking for ways to gain an advantage — they see things not only for what they currently are, but for their potential. You should be doing this with your home. Don't like your layout? Who says that bedroom can't be an office and vice versa. Present circumstances are simply a suggestion, you decide the final results.

Don't scoff at shortcuts

If you feel like you're not doing it "right" by taking a shortcut when it comes along, then you are NOT being street smart. If you can get the same results with less work, by all means, go for it. That goes for anything in your home, from decorating to dinner. Appreciate the things that come easily because there are plenty of projects that won't.

(Image credit: Jose Campos and Oliver Herbert)

Roll with the punches

Something going wrong? It happens to everyone, even hustlers. The difference is, instead of getting bogged down in the how and why of their failures, hustlers focus on how to turn the circumstances back in their favor. If they need to abandon a project and regroup, they'll be stronger and wiser next time because they never make the same mistake twice.

Don't quit

You don't lose until you quit and hustlers never quit until they get what they want. Keep tweaking your design until you win your own big score.